Communication state transitioning control

ABSTRACT

Embodiments of the present disclosure describe devices, methods, computer-readable media and systems configurations for managing state transitions of communication circuitries in wireless networks. Embodiments manage radio resource control (RRC) state transitions and/or discontinuous reception (DRX) state transitions. Other embodiments may be described and/or claimed.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a continuation of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 14/231,487, filed Mar. 31, 2014, entitled “COMMUNICATION STATETRANSITIONING CONTROL,” which is a continuation of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 13/528,492, filed Jun. 20, 2012, entitled“COMMUNICATION STATE TRANSITIONING CONTROL,” now U.S. Pat. No.9,007,972, which claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent ApplicationNo. 61/504,054, filed Jul. 1, 2011, entitled “METHOD AND APPARATUS FORLTE” and U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/542,086, filed Sep.30, 2011 entitled “ADVANCED WIRELESS COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS ANDTECHNIQUES,” the entire disclosures of which are hereby incorporated byreference.

FIELD

Embodiments of the present invention relate generally to the field ofcommunications, and more particularly, to controllingcommunication-state transitions within user equipment used in wirelesscommunication networks.

BACKGROUND

User equipment (UE) used within wireless communication networks mayinclude a number of various communication states that may be employed tosave power and/or network resources. For example, 3rd GenerationPartnership Project (3GPP) long-term evolution (LTE) Release 10 (March2011), which may also be referred to as LTE-Advanced (LTE-A), providestwo states for radio resource control (RRC) circuitry, i.e., RRC_idleand RRC_connected. In general, a UE may be instructed by a base stationto release its connection, e.g., transition from RRC connected to RRCidle, in the event no communications occur for a predetermined period oftime. The predetermined period of time may be set by an idle inactivitytimer. When communications are to be commenced, the UE may reacquire itsconnection, e.g., transition from RRC_idle to RRC_connected, in order tocommence with the communication.

Currently, several different types of Internet applications running onUEs send short messages that cause frequent state transitions by the UE.This may result in a large signaling overhead, both over the air as wellas the core network, due to authentication, key exchange, IP addressassignments, etc., that may be required for the UE to reacquire itsconnection.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Embodiments will be readily understood by the following detaileddescription in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. To facilitatethis description, like reference numerals designate like structuralelements. Embodiments are illustrated by way of example and not by wayof limitation in the figures of the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 schematically illustrates a wireless communication network inaccordance with various embodiments.

FIG. 2 illustrates a timing sequence related to state transitions inaccordance with various embodiments.

FIG. 3 illustrates a flowchart depicting an operation ofcommunication-state circuitry in a user equipment in accordance withvarious embodiments.

FIG. 4 illustrates a flowchart depicting an operation oftransition-control circuitry in a base station in accordance withvarious embodiments.

FIG. 5 illustrates a flow chart depicting an operation ofcommunication-state circuitry in a user equipment in accordance withvarious embodiments.

FIG. 6 illustrates a flow chart depicting an operation ofcommunication-state circuitry in a user equipment in accordance withvarious embodiments.

FIG. 7 illustrates a timing sequence of a threshold check in accordancewith some embodiments.

FIG. 8 schematically depicts an example system in accordance withvarious embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Illustrative embodiments of the present disclosure include, but are notlimited to, methods, systems, and apparatuses for managingcommunication-state transitions within wireless networks.

Various aspects of the illustrative embodiments will be described usingterms commonly employed by those skilled in the art to convey thesubstance of their work to others skilled in the art. However, it willbe apparent to those skilled in the art that alternate embodiments maybe practiced with only some of the described aspects. For purposes ofexplanation, specific numbers, materials, and configurations are setforth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the illustrativeembodiments. However, it will be apparent to one skilled in the art thatalternate embodiments may be practiced without the specific details. Inother instances, well-known features are omitted or simplified in ordernot to obscure the illustrative embodiments.

Further, various operations will be described as multiple discreteoperations, in turn, in a manner that is most helpful in understandingthe illustrative embodiments; however, the order of description shouldnot be construed as to imply that these operations are necessarily orderdependent. In particular, these operations need not be performed in theorder of presentation.

The phrase “in some embodiments” is used repeatedly. The phrasegenerally does not refer to the same embodiments; however, it may. Theterms “comprising,” “having,” and “including” are synonymous, unless thecontext dictates otherwise.

Unless the context dictates otherwise, the phrases “A or B,” “A/B,” and“A and/or B” mean (A), (B), or (A and B).

As used herein, the term “circuitry” may refer to, be part of, orinclude an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a processor(shared, dedicated, or group) and/or memory (shared, dedicated, orgroup), combinational logic circuit, or other electronic circuit thatprovides the described functionality. In various embodiments, thecircuitry may execute instructions stored in one or morecomputer-readable media to provide the described functionality.

FIG. 1 schematically illustrates a wireless communication network 100 inaccordance with various embodiments. Wireless communication network 100(hereinafter “network 100”) may be an access network of a 3rd GenerationPartnership Project (3GPP) long-term evolution advanced (LTE-A) networksuch as an evolved universal terrestrial radio access network (EUTRAN).The network 100 may include a base station, e.g., enhanced node basestation (eNB) 104, configured to wirelessly communicate with a mobiledevice, e.g., user equipment (UE) 108. While embodiments of the presentinvention are described with reference to an LTE-A network, embodimentsmay be used with other LTE releases as well as other types of wirelessaccess networks.

The eNB 104 may include communication circuitry 112 coupled with one ormore antennas 116 to facilitate over-the-air (OTA) communication withother nodes on the network 100, for example, UE 108. The eNB 104 mayfurther include transition-control circuitry 120 coupled with thecommunication circuitry 1, 12. The transition-control circuitry 120 maycontrol various states of communication circuitry of the nodes in thenetwork 100, e.g., UE 108.

The UE 108 may include communication circuitry 124 coupled with one ormore antennas 128 to facilitate OTA communication with other nodes ofthe network 100, for example, eNB 104. The UE 108 may further includecommunication-state circuitry 132 that controls the states ofcommunication circuitry 124. Communication-state circuitry 132 maycontrol the states of communication circuitry 124 by cooperating withtransition-control circuitry 120. The UE 108 may further include timercircuitry 136 and one or more counter(s) 140 that may be controlled bythe communication-state circuitry 132 to monitor state transitionswithin various tracking windows as will be described below. The timercircuitry 136 may include one or more timers such as, but not limitedto, a discontinuous reception (DRX) inactivity timer, an RRC-inactivitytimer, a DRX tracking timer, an RRC tracking timer, a high-value timer,etc. The counter(s) 140 may include one or more counters such as, butnot limited to, a DRX counter, an RRC counter, etc.

Some of the state transitions of the communication circuitry 124contemplated herein include RRC-state transitions, e.g., betweenRRC_idle and RRC connected, and DRX-state transitions. DRX-statetransitions may include transitions into or out of a DRX mode, e.g.,DRX-inactive mode and DRX-active mode, and transitions between differentDRX configurations.

In some embodiments, a state transition may occur by thecommunication-state circuitry 132 of the UE 108 sending a message to thetransition-control circuitry 120 of the eNB 104 to request thetransition. In response, the transition-control circuitry 120 may returna control message that instructs the transition. In some embodiments,the UE 108 may have further autonomy with respect to certain statetransitions, e.g., transitions between DRX configurations. An autonomousstate change, as used herein, means that the UE 108 will perform thestate change without being instructed to do so by the eNB 104.

FIG. 2 illustrates a timing sequence 200 to further explain these statetransitions in accordance with some embodiments.

At 204, a packet may be served by the communication circuitry 124. Thepacket may be either transmitted from, or received by the communicationcircuitry 124. Upon serving the packet, both the RRC-inactivity timerand the DRX-inactivity timer of the timer circuitry 136 may be started.The inactivity timers are initially set to a value that corresponds toan inactivity period. Typically, the RRC-inactivity period may be longerthan the DRX-inactivity period due to the relatively greater delayassociated with an RRC transition as opposed to a DRX transition.

If no packets are received during the DRX-inactivity period, indicatedupon expiration of the DRX-inactivity timer, the communication circuitry124 may perform a DRX-state transition by transitioning into aDRX-active mode having a first cycle length, e.g., a short-cycle DRX.

In the short-cycle DRX, some or all of the components of thecommunication circuitry 124 may be periodically powered down (PD in FIG.2), e.g., turned off, and then powered up (PU in FIG. 2), e.g., turnedon. While the components are powered down, packets that are to be servedmay be buffered, either at the eNB 104 or the UE 108, until thecomponents are powered back up. During the powered down periods theconnection with the eNB 104 may remain activated with the resourcesbeing continuously allocated to the UE 108.

After a predetermined number of on/off cycles of a short-cycle DRXwithout serving additional packets, the communication circuitry 124 mayswitch to a second cycle length, e.g., a long-cycle DRX. The long-cycleDRX may be similar to the short-cycle DRX except that it may include alonger powered-down period and, therefore, conserve more power. Thevarious parameters of DRX operation, e.g., length of PD/PU, number ofon/off cycles between switching cycle lengths, etc., may be defined by aDRX configuration. In some embodiments, a state transition may involvechanging DRX configurations to update/change one or more of theseparameters. As with other state transitions, this may involve, in someembodiments, various messaging between the communication-state circuitry132 and transition-control circuitry 120.

If no packets are received during an idle period, indicated uponexpiration of the RRC-inactivity timer, the communication circuitry 124may perform a state transition by releasing its connection andtransitioning from an RRC connected state to an RRC_idle state. Thecommunication circuitry 124 may be in RRC_idle state until, at 208,another packet needs to be served. At this point, the communicationcircuitry 124 may perform another state transition, from RRC idle to RRCconnected, which may involve authentication, key exchange, IP addressassignment, etc. so that the UE 108 may reacquire its connection.

FIG. 3 illustrates a flowchart depicting an operation 300 of thecommunication-state circuitry 132 in accordance with some embodiments.

The operation 300 may include, at block 304, receiving configurationmessages. The configuration messages may be RRC and/or medium accesscontrol (MAC) messages received from the eNB 104 that include theconfiguration parameters. In some embodiments the configurationparameters may be received in an RRC configuration process of the UE108.

In various embodiments, the configuration parameters may be used toestablish, e.g., the RRC-inactivity period, the DRX-inactivity period,an RRC tracking window, a DRX tracking window, one or morestate-transition disable periods, and one or more counter thresholds(e.g., RRC-state transition threshold, DRX-state transition threshold,etc.). In other embodiments, the UE 108 may be preprogrammed with one ormore of these parameters or receive one or more of these parameters inseparate control signaling.

It may be noted that a counter threshold may be a configurable numberthat is based on an inactivity period and tracking window. For example,if the inactivity period is 10 seconds and the tracking window is 60seconds, only 6 transitions may possibly occur in the tracking window.Thus, the counter threshold may be set at a number less than 6. In someembodiments, the tracking window and/or inactivity period may bedynamic. In these embodiments, the associated counter threshold may besimilarly dynamic. In some embodiments, the counter threshold may bedynamically determined by the UE 108 based on present tracking windowand/or inactivity period, or may be dynamically determined by the eNB104 with updates being sent to the UE 108.

The operation 300 may include, at block 308, determining a number oftransitions in a tracking window. In some embodiments, thecommunication-state circuitry 132 may set a tracking timer of the timercircuitry 136 to a value indicated by the configuration parameters and acounter of the communication-state circuitry 132 may be initialized tozero. Upon receipt of a state-transition indication, the tracking timerof the timer circuitry 136 may begin to count down and the counter maybe controlled to increment for every tracked state transition thatoccurs while the tracking timer is not zero. The tracked-statetransitions may be RRC transitions, DRX transitions, or some combinationthereof.

The operation 300 may include, at block 312, comparing trackedtransitions to predetermined threshold. For example, the comparing mayinclude determining whether the tracked transitions are greater than orequal to the relevant threshold for the relevant tracking window.

If, at block 312, it is determined that the number of trackedtransitions are less than the relevant threshold for the trackingwindow, the operation 300 may loop back to block 308. In someembodiments, the tracking window may be a sliding window with thedetermining of block 308 done at a predefined interval, e.g., every 2seconds. For example, if the tracking window is 60 seconds, the numberof state transitions that have occurred in the previous 60 seconds maybe determined every 2 seconds.

If at block 312, it is determined that the number of tracked transitionsare greater than the relevant threshold for the tracking window, theoperation 300 may advance to block 316. In other embodiments, othercomparisons of the tracked transitions to the predetermined thresholdmay be used.

At block 316, the operation 300 may include generating and transmittinga transition-suppress message. The transition-suppress message may be amessage transmitted to the transition-control circuitry 120 thatrequests the eNB 104 to refrain from instructing the communication-statecircuitry 132 to conduct a relevant state transition for a given periodof time, e.g., the relevant state-transition disable period. In someembodiments, the state-transition disable period will be known at theeNB 104 and therefore it may be unnecessary to include it in thetransition-suppress message. In other embodiments, thecommunication-state circuitry 132 may select a particularstate-transition disable period and may send the selectedstate-transition disable period along with the transition-suppressmessage. The transition-control circuitry 120 may consider the selectedstate-transition disable period transmitted with the transition-suppressmessage as a suggested period to refrain from transmitting a subsequenttransition-control message.

In some embodiments, the generating and transmitting of thetransition-suppress message at block 316 may not be necessary. Forexample, both the UE 108 and eNB 104 may have sufficient information asto operation in the event of the tracked transitions exceeding thethreshold through appropriate RRC configuration (e.g., at block 304).

The operation 300 may include, at block 320, setting a relevantinactivity timer to the state-transition disable period. The inactivitytimer may then be started. This may result in the delay of anytransition requests for a time period at least equal to thestate-transition disable period.

In embodiments in which the tracked transitions are RRC transitions andthe inactivity timer is an RRC-inactivity timer, the operation 300 mayfurther include, at block 320, initiating a DRX mode. In this instance,the DRX mode may be initiated, whether or not the DRX inactivity timerhas expired, in an effort to conserve power in light of the suppressingof the transition to the RRC_idle state. Initiating the DRX mode may bedone by the communication-state circuitry 132 sending a transitionrequest to the transition-control circuitry 120 and subsequentlyreceiving a transition control message to instruct the initiation of theDRX mode.

At block 324, the operation 300 may include determining whether therelevant inactivity timer expires without serving of a packet or otherevent that would reset the inactivity timer. If the inactivity timer hasnot expired, the operation 300 may loop back to block 324.

When the inactivity timer is determined to be expired, at block 324, theoperation 300 may include resetting inactivity timer to original value,e.g., the inactivity period. If the inactivity timer subsequentlyexpires without the communication circuitry 124 serving a packet atransition request may be sent, at block 332, by the communication-statecircuitry 132 to the transition-control circuitry 120 as a request forthe transition-control circuitry 120 to control/instruct a statetransition of the communication circuitry 124. As mentioned above, insome embodiments, the UE 108 may include greater degrees of autonomy intransitioning between states. In some of these embodiments, the sendingof the transition request of block 332 may be replaced with a sending ofa transition notice to notify the transition-control circuitry 120 ofthe autonomous state change.

While the above described embodiment includes setting the inactivitytimer to a state-transition disable period value (at block 320) and,upon expiration, resetting the inactivity timer to original value (atblock 328), other embodiments may delay transition requests in othermanners. For example, in some embodiments, the method may include adding a state-transition disable period value to a particular instance ofthe inactivity timer.

An example of the operation 300 in which the tracked transitions are RRCstate transitions may now be briefly explained. At block 304, theoperation 300 may include receiving configuration parameters thatinclude values that correspond to the RRC tracking timer, RRC counterthreshold value, and/or RRC state-transition disable period. Theoperation 300 may then advance to tracking RRC state transitions atblock 308.

If it is determined that the number of RRC state transitions within agiven RRC tracking window is greater than or equal to the RRC counterthreshold, at block 312, the communication-state circuitry 132 may, atblock 316, generate and transmit a message, e.g., an idle-suppressmessage, to the transition-control circuitry 120 that requestssuppression of control messages that would instruct thecommunication-state circuitry 132 to transition to RRC_idle. At block320, the RRC-inactivity timer may be set to an RRC state transitiondisable period value. In this instance, the communication-statecircuitry 132 may extend the time the communication circuitry 124 is toremain in the RRC connected state to avoid overconsumption of resourcesdue to frequent RRC state transitions.

The RRC-inactivity timer may expire when no packet has been served forat least the RRC-inactivity period and RRC transitions have not exceededthe counter threshold for an RRC tracking window for at least thestate-transition disable period. Upon expiration of the RRC-inactivitytimer, at block 324, the communication-state circuitry 132 may reset theinactivity timer to its original value. Once the RRC-inactivity timersubsequently expires, the communication-state circuitry 132 may send atransition request, at block 332, to the transition-control circuitry120 to request transition instructions.

An example of the operation 300 in which the tracked transitions are DRXstate transitions may now be briefly explained. At block 304, theoperation 300 may include receiving configuration parameters thatinclude values that correspond to the DRX tracking timer, DRX counterthreshold value, and/or DRX state-transition disable period. Theoperation 300 may then advance to tracking DRX state transitions atblock 308. The tracked DRX state transitions may be transitions into orout of the DRX-active mode or they may be transitions between DRXconfigurations. If it is determined that the number of DRX statetransitions within a given DRX tracking window is greater than or equalto the DRX counter threshold, at block 312, the communication-statecircuitry 132 may, at block 316, generate and transmit a message to thetransition-control circuitry 120 that requests suppression of controlmessages that would instruct the communication-state circuitry 132 totransition between DRX states. At block 320, the DRX-inactivity timermay be set to the DRX state-transition disable period. In this instance,the communication-state circuitry 132 may decrease the frequency of theDRX state transitions to avoid overconsumption of resources. Uponexpiration of the DRX-inactivity timer, at block 324, thecommunication-state circuitry 132 may reset the DRX-inactivity timer toits original value. Upon subsequent expiration of the DRX-inactivitytimer, the communication-state circuitry 132 may send a transitionrequest, at block 332, to the transition-control circuitry 120 torequest transition instructions.

Various other embodiments may include other types of trackedtransitions. For example, in some embodiments, the tracked transitionsmay be autonomous state changes. This may be used to limit the frequencyat which the UE 108 performs state transitions without being instructedto do so by the transition-control circuitry 120.

In some embodiments, we introduce a timer that limits a number of DRXconfiguration change requests from both eNodeB and the UE, if possible.Once a DRX operation is triggered, this timer will also be triggered,preventing the UE/eNodeB from initiating a change request in DRXconfigurations, thus limiting the amount of signaling overhead. Thistimer may be configured by the eNode at the UE during the RRCconfiguration procedure.

FIG. 4 illustrates a flowchart depicting an operation 400 of thetransition-control circuitry 120 in accordance with some embodiments.

The operation 400 may include, at block 404, transmitting configurationparameters. The configuration parameters may b e transmitted from thetransition-control circuitry 120 the communication-state circuitry 132and may be used to establish, e.g., the RRC-inactivity period, theDRX-inactivity period, an RRC tracking window, a DRX tracking window,one or more state-transition disable periods, and one or more counterthresholds (e.g., RRC-state transition threshold, DRX-state transitionthreshold, etc.).

At block 408, the operation 400 may include receiving atransition-suppress message. The transition-suppress message may bereceived by the transition-control circuitry 120 from thecommunication-state circuitry 132. The transition-suppress message mayinclude a request to suppress transition control messages for a periodof time.

At block 412, the operation 400 may include suppressing transitioncontrol messages for a state-transition disable period. In someembodiments, the transition-control circuitry 120 may determine thestate-transition disable period based on information received in thetransition-suppress message and/or information previously stored at theeNB 104.

FIG. 5 illustrates a flowchart depicting an operation 500 of thecommunication-state circuitry 132 in accordance with some embodiments.

The operation 500 may include receiving configuration messages at block504 and determining number of transitions in tracking window at 508similar to like-named blocks of operation 300.

At blocks 512 and 51, 6, the operation 500 may include comparing thenumber of tracked transitions to high and low thresholds. In particular,at block 5, 12, the operation 500 may include determining whethertracked transitions are greater than a high threshold. If an affirmativedetermination is obtained at block 512, the operation 500 may advance toincreasing an inactivity period value at block 520. The amount in whichthe inactivity period is increased may be a delta value or it may be oneor more increments within a table of inactivity period values. Thehigh/low threshold, delta value and/or table of inactivity period valuesmay be provided to the UE 108 in the configuration messages of block504. In this manner, the communication-state circuitry may suppressstate transitions by decreasing the rate at which thecommunication-state circuitry 132 will switch states.

If a negative determination is obtained at block 512, the operation 500may advance to block 516. At block 516, the operation 500 may includedetermining whether tracked transitions are less than a low threshold.If an affirmative determination is obtained at block 516, the operation500 may advance to decreasing an inactivity period at block 524. Theamount in which the inactivity period is decreased may be a delta valueor it may be one or more decrements within a table of inactivity periodvalues. The delta value and/or table of inactivity period values may beprovided to the UE 108 in the configuration messages of block 504. Inthis manner, rate at which the communication-state circuitry 132 willswitch states will be increased, which may result in an increase inpower savings.

Following block 520, 524, or a negative determination at block 516, theoperation 500 may include setting an inactivity timer to the inactivityperiod at block 528.

In the event the inactivity timer expires without the communicationcircuitry 124 serving a packet, the operation 500 may include sending atransition request at block 532, similar to block 332 of operation 300.

FIG. 6 illustrates a flowchart depicting an operation 600 of thecommunication-state circuitry 132 in accordance with some embodiments.

The operation 600 may include receiving configuration messages at block604 and determining number of transitions in tracking window at 608,similar to like-named blocks of operations 300 and 500. Further, theoperation 600 may include comparing the number of tracked transitions toa threshold at block 612, similar to block 312 of the operation 300.

If it is determined, at block 612, that the number of trackedtransitions is greater than the threshold, the operation 600 may advanceto increasing an inactivity period and setting a high-value timer. Theinactivity period may be increased by a delta value or it may be one ormore increments within a table of inactivity period values. The value ofthe high-value timer, delta value and/or table of inactivity periodvalues may be provided to the UE 108 in the configuration messages ofblock 604.

The high-value timer will limit the amount of time the inactivity periodis set to a high value. When the high-value timer expires, theinactivity period may be reduced to its original value upon nextexpiration of the inactivity timer.

Following block 620 or a negative determination at block 612, theoperation 600 may include setting an inactivity timer to the inactivityperiod at block 628.

In the event the inactivity timer expires without the communicationcircuitry 124 serving a packet, the operation 600 may include sending atransition request, similar to block 332 of operation 300.

In some embodiments, after each change of the inactivity period, e.g.,in block 620 or upon expiration of the high-value timer, thecommunication-state circuitry 132 may implement a delay in the thresholdchecking (e.g., block 608 and block 612). FIG. 7 illustrates a timingsequence 700 of the threshold checking in the event of a change to aninactivity period in accordance with some embodiments.

A first threshold check may be performed at t1 in order to determinewhether the n umber of state transitions in first tracking window 704exceeds the threshold. Assuming that the transitions do not exceed thethreshold, a second threshold check may be performed at t2, where t2−t1is the normal period in which the threshold checks are performed (e.g.,2 seconds). If the second threshold check reveals the transitions exceedthe threshold, the value of the inactivity period may be increased asdescribed above with respect to operations 500 or 600. In thisembodiment, the next threshold check may be delayed until t3, with thedelay value equal to, e.g., the tracking window. This will provide thecommunication-state circuitry 132 with sufficient time to accumulatetransition data based on the new inactivity period.

The operations of 300, 500, and 600 represent various ways in which theUE 108 (and the communication-state circuitry 132, in particular) maysuppress transitions. In some embodiments, the UE 108 may choose whichsuppression method to use. For example, upon determining the trackedtransitions are greater than a threshold, the UE 108 may also determinewhether to disable the inactivity timer for a state-transition disableperiod (e.g., setting the inactivity timer to the state-transitiondisable period as is done in block 320) or increase the inactivityperiod (e.g., as is done in blocks 520 or 620).

The circuitry described herein may be implemented into a system usingany suitable hardware and/or software to configure as desired. FIG. 8illustrates, for one embodiment, an example system 800 comprising one ormore processor(s) 804, system control logic 808 coupled with at leastone of the processor(s) 804, system memory 812 coupled with systemcontrol logic 808, non-volatile memory (NVM)/storage 816 coupled withsystem control logic 808, and a network interface 820 coupled withsystem control logic 808.

The processor(s) 804 may include one or more single-core or multi-coreprocessors. The processor(s) 804 may include any combination ofgeneral-purpose processors and dedicated processors (e.g., graphicsprocessors, application processors, baseband processors, etc.).

System control logic 808 for one embodiment may include any suitableinterface controllers to provide for any suitable interface to at leastone of the processor(s) 804 and/or to any suitable device or componentin communication with system control logic 808.

System control logic 808 for one embodiment may include one or morememory controller(s) to provide an interface to system memory 812.System memory 812 may be used to load and store data and/orinstructions, for example, for system 800. System memory 812 for oneembodiment may include any suitable volatile memory, such as suitabledynamic random access memory (DRAM), for example.

NVM/storage 816 may include one or more tangible, non-transitorycomputer-readable media used to store data and/or instructions, forexample. NVM/storage 816 may include any suitable non-volatile memory,such as flash memory, for example, and/or may include any suitablenon-volatile storage device(s), such as one or more hard disk drive(s)(HDD(s)), one or more compact disk (CD) drive(s), and/or one or moredigital versatile disk (DVD) drive(s), for example.

The NVM/storage 816 may include a storage resource physically part of adevice on which the system 800 is installed or it may be accessible by,hut not necessarily a part of, the device. For example, the NVM/storage816 may be accessed over a network via the network interface 820.

System memory 812 and NVM/storage 816 may respectively include, inparticular, temporal and persistent copies of transition logic 824. Thetransition logic 824 may include instructions that when executed by atleast one of the processor(s) 804 result in the system 800 implementingtransition-control circuitry 120 or communication-state circuitry 132 toperform respective operations described herein. In some embodiments, thetransition logic 824, or hardware, firmware, and/or software componentsthereof, may additionally/alternatively be located in the system controllogic 808, the network interface 820, and/or the processor(s) 804.

System memory 812 and NVM/storage 816 may also include data that may beoperated on, or otherwise used in conjunction with, the describedcomponents. For example, configuration parameters may be stored insystem memory 812 and/or NVM/storage 816 and accessible by thetransition logic 824 for implementing transition operations describedherein.

Network interface 820 may have communication circuitry 822 to provide aradio interface for system 800 to communicate over one or morenetwork(s) and/or with any other suitable device. The communicationcircuitry 822 may be similar to and substantially interchangeable withcommunication circuitry 112 and/or 124. The communication circuitry 822may include a receiver and/or transmitter. In various embodiments, thecommunication circuitry 822 may be integrated with other components ofsystem 800. For example, the communication circuitry 822 may include aprocessor of the processor(s) 804, memory of the system memory 812, andNVM/Storage of NVM/Storage 816. Network interface 820 may include anysuitable hardware and/or firmware. Network interface 820 may include aplurality of antennas to provide a multiple input, multiple output radiointerface. Network interface 820 for one embodiment may include, forexample, a network adapter, a wireless network adapter, a telephonemodem, and/or a wireless modem.

For one embodiment, at least one of the processor(s) 804 may be packagedtogether with logic for one or more controller(s) of system controllogic 808. For one embodiment, at least one of the processor(s) 804 maybe packaged together with logic for one or more controllers of systemcontrol logic 808 to form a System in Package (SiP). For one embodiment,at least one of the processor(s) 804 may be integrated on the same diewith logic for one or more controller(s) of system control logic 808.For one embodiment, at least one of the processor(s) 804 may beintegrated on the same die with logic for one or more controller(s) ofsystem control logic 808 to form a System on Chip (SoC).

The system 800 may further include input/output (I/O) devices 832. TheI/O devices 832 may include user interfaces designed to enable userinteraction with the system 800, peripheral component interfacesdesigned to enable peripheral component interaction with the system 800,and/or sensors designed to determine environmental conditions and/orlocation information related to the system 800.

In various embodiments, the user interfaces could include, but are notlimited to, a display (e.g., a liquid crystal display, a touchscreendisplay, etc.), a speaker, a microphone, one or more cameras (e.g., astill camera and/or a video camera), a flashlight (e.g., a lightemitting diode flash), and a keyboard.

In various embodiments, the peripheral component interfaces may include,but are not limited to, a non-volatile memory port, an audio jack, and apower supply interface.

In various embodiments, the sensors may include, but are not limited to,a gyro sensor, an accelerometer, a proximity sensor, an ambient lightsensor, and a positioning unit. The positioning unit may also be partof, or interact with, the network interface 820 to communicate withcomponents of a positioning network, e.g., a global positioning system(OPS) satellite.

In various embodiments, the system 800 may be a mobile computing devicesuch as, but not limited to, a laptop computing device, a tabletcomputing device, a netbook, an ultrabook, a smartphone, etc. In variousembodiments, system 800 may have more or less components, and/ordifferent architectures.

Although certain embodiments have been illustrated and described hereinfor purposes of description, a wide variety of alternate and/orequivalent embodiments or implementations calculated to achieve the samepurposes may be substituted for the embodiments shown and describedwithout departing from the scope of the present disclosure. Thisapplication is intended to cover any adaptations or variations of theembodiments discussed herein. Therefore, it is manifestly intended thatembodiments described herein be limited only by the claims and theequivalents thereof.

What is claimed is:
 1. An user equipment (UE) in a cellularcommunications network, the UE comprising: communication circuitry toreceive, in a radio-resource control (RRC) message, parameterconfiguration values corresponding to at least one of a shortdiscontinuous reception (DRX) cycle or a long DRX cycle, wherein theparameter configuration values include one or more of length of a powerdown (PD) period in the short DRX cycle, length of a power up (PU)period in the short DRX cycle, length of a PD period in the long DRXcycle, length of a PU period in the long DRX cycle, a threshold numberof PD/PU transitions in the short DRX cycle, or a threshold number ofPD/PU transitions in the long DRX cycle; a DRX tracking timer and a DRXinactive timer to be set to respective particular values based at leaston the parameter configuration values included in the RRC configurationmessage; and processing circuitry to: trigger an RRC timer inconjunction with the DRX inactive timer based on a state transition ofthe UE to an RRC-connected state upon processing a packet by the UE; inthe RRC-connected state with the RRC timer running: upon expiration ofthe DRX inactive timer without further packet processing, (i) cause theUE to state transition to a first state corresponding to the short DRXcycle, and (ii) trigger the DRX tracking timer based on the statetransition of the UE to the first state corresponding to the short DRXcycle; tracking, using the DRX tracking timer, a number of PD/PUtransitions in the short DRX cycle, wherein the DRX tracking timer isconfigured to expire when the number of PD/PU transitions in the shortDRX cycle is equal to or greater than the threshold number of PD/PUtransitions in the short DRX cycle; upon expiration of the DRX trackingtimer, cause the UE to transition to a second state corresponding to thelong DRX cycle; and upon expiration of the RRC timer without furtherpacket processing, cause the UE to transition to an RRC-idle state. 2.The UE of claim 1, wherein the second state corresponds to a greaterpower-saving by the UE compared to the first state.
 3. The UE of claim1, wherein the first state and the second state are included in theRRC-connected state.
 4. The UE of claim 1, wherein the UE furthercomprises: one or more sensors configured to determine one or more ofenvironmental conditions or location information related to the UE.
 5. Amethod comprising: setting a DRX tracking timer and a DRX inactive timerof a user equipment (UE) to respective values indicated by parameterconfiguration values in a radio resource control (RRC) message from abase station, the parameter configuration values corresponding to atleast one of a short discontinuous reception (DRX) cycle or a long DRXcycle, and including one or more of length of a power down (PD) periodin the short DRX cycle, length of a power up (PU) period in the shortDRX cycle, length of a PD period in the long DRX cycle, length of a PUperiod in the long DRX cycle, a threshold number of PD/PU transitions inthe short DRX cycle, or a threshold number of PD/PU transitions in thelong DRX cycle; triggering an RRC timer in conjunction with the DRXinactive timer based on a state transition of the UE to an RRC-connectedstate upon processing a packet by the UE; in the RRC-connected statewith the RRC timer running, upon expiration of the DRX inactive timerwithout further packet processing, (i) causing the UE to statetransition to a first state corresponding to the short DRX cycle, and(ii) triggering the DRX tracking timer based on the state transition ofthe UE to the first state corresponding to the short DRX cycle;tracking, using the DRX tracking timer, a number of PD/PU transitions inthe short DRX cycle, wherein the DRX tracking timer is configured toexpire when the number of PD/PU transitions in the short DRX cycle isequal to or greater than the threshold number of PD/PU transitions inthe short DRX cycle; causing the UE to transition to a second statecorresponding to the long DRX cycle upon expiration of the DRX trackingtimer; and upon expiration of the RRC timer without further packetprocessing, cause the UE to transition to an RRC-idle state.
 6. Themethod of claim 5, wherein the second state corresponds to a greaterpower-saving by the UE compared to the first state.
 7. A processor for auser equipment (UE) in a cellular communications network, the processorcomprising: communication circuitry to execute one or more instructionsthat, when executed, cause the processor to perform operationscomprising receiving, in a radio-resource control (RRC) message,parameter configuration values corresponding to at least one of a shortdiscontinuous reception (DRX) cycle or a long DRX cycle, wherein theparameter configuration values include one or more of length of a powerdown (PD) period in the short DRX cycle, length of a power up (PU)period in the short DRX cycle, length of a PD period in the long DRXcycle, length of a PU period in the long DRX cycle, a threshold numberof PD/PU transitions in the short DRX cycle, or a threshold number ofPD/PU transitions in the long DRX cycle; and processing circuitry toexecute one or more instructions that, when executed, cause theprocessor to perform operations comprising: configuring a DRX trackingtimer and a DRX inactive timer in the UE to respective particular valuesbased at least on the parameter configuration values included in the RRCconfiguration message; triggering an RRC timer in conjunction with theDRX inactive timer based on a state transition of the UE to anRRC-connected state upon processing a packet by the UE; in theRRC-connected state with the RRC timer running: upon expiration of theDRX inactive timer without further packet processing, (i) cause the UEto state transition to a first state corresponding to the short DRXcycle, and (ii) triggering the DRX tracking timer based on the statetransition of the UE to the first state corresponding to the short DRXcycle; tracking, using the DRX tracking timer, a number of PD/PUtransitions in the short DRX cycle, wherein the DRX tracking timer isconfigured to expire when the number of PD/PU transitions in the shortDRX cycle is equal to or greater than the threshold number of PD/PUtransitions in the short DRX cycle; upon expiration of the DRX trackingtimer, causing the UE to transition to a second state corresponding tothe long DRX cycle; and upon expiration of the RRC timer without furtherpacket processing, cause the UE to transition to an RRC-idle state. 8.The processor of claim 7, wherein the second state corresponds to agreater power-saving by the UE compared to the first state.
 9. Themethod of claim 5, wherein the first state and the second state areincluded in the RRC-connected state.
 10. The processor of claim 7,wherein the first state and the second state are included in theRRC-connected state.
 11. A base station (BS) in a cellularcommunications network, the BS comprising: communication circuitryconfigured to transmit to a user equipment (UE), in a radio-resourcecontrol (RRC) message, parameter configuration values corresponding toat least one of a short discontinuous reception (DRX) cycle or a longDRX cycle, wherein the parameter configuration values include one ormore of length of a power down (PD) period in the short DRX cycle,length of a power up (PU) period in the short DRX cycle, length of a PDperiod in the long DRX cycle, length of a PU period in the long DRXcycle, a threshold number of PD/PU transitions in the short DRX cycle,or a threshold number of PD/PU transitions in the long DRX cycle,wherein the UE is adapted to: set a DRX tracking timer and a DRXinactive timer to respective particular values based at least on theparameter configuration values included in the RRC configurationmessage; trigger an RRC timer in conjunction with the DRX inactive timerbased on a state transition of the UE to an RRC-connected state uponprocessing a packet by the UE; in the RRC-connected state with the RRCtimer running: upon expiration of the DRX inactive timer without furtherpacket processing, (i) state transition to a first state correspondingto the short DRX cycle, and (ii) trigger the DRX tracking timer based onthe state transition of the UE to the first state corresponding to theshort DRX cycle; track, using the DRX tracking timer, a number of PD/PUtransitions in the short DRX cycle, wherein the DRX tracking timer isconfigured to expire when the number of PD/PU transitions in the shortDRX cycle is equal to or greater than the threshold number of PD/PUtransitions in the short DRX cycle; upon expiration of the DRX trackingtimer, transition to a second state corresponding to the long DRX cycle;and upon expiration of the RRC timer without further packet processing,transition to an RRC-idle state.
 12. The BS of claim 11, wherein thesecond state corresponds to a greater power-saving by the UE compared tothe first state.
 13. The BS of claim 11, wherein the first state and thesecond state are included in the RRC-connected state.
 14. The BS ofclaim 11, wherein the communication circuitry is configured to receiveone or more transition suppress messages from the UE when the UE is inthe second state corresponding to the long DRX cycle.
 15. The BS ofclaim 14, further comprising: a transition control circuitry configuredto: determine, based at least on the one or more transition suppressmessages received from the UE, a state transition disable periodcorresponding to the UE; and suppress transition control messages to besent to the UE for the determined state transition disable period.